Special Section
Interactive Feature
Turn the pages of our "virtual online magazine."
Click here to read
Need Help? For a quick tutorial on the virtual magazine, click here.
Sponsored by:
This special section was created for Living & Working In New Castle County by Journal Communications Inc.
Visit us online by
clicking here.
Planning for the Future
County leaders envision affordable, connected communities.
As part of the 2007 Comprehensive Development Plan, the county is focusing on smart growth for the future. This photo of downtown New Castle depicts a high-density neighborhood with undeveloped green areas.
After 18 months of public discussion about expected growth patterns and what it means to live in New Castle County, the county has adopted its updated 2007 Comprehensive Development Plan.
The updated plan recognizes that redeveloping and revitalizing existing residential and business areas, coordinating development efforts across all levels of government, and building connected communities reflects the vision for the county’s future. For builders and residents, the plan sets parameters for the amount, type and location of future residential and commercial building. For business, it sets the course for economic development, infrastructure and redevelopment efforts.
“Our 2007 Comprehensive Development Plan supports a county where connections between people enhance our quality of life and where decent housing, good jobs and places to learn and play are available to people of all ages, backgrounds and economic situations,” says County Executive Chris Coons.
Under the plan, New Castle County will focus on land-use planning in three areas: economic development and redevelopment, preserving the dream of home ownership, and building connected communities.
Job growth and redevelopment:
The new comprehensive plan builds on recent code changes that provide incentives for redevelopment of existing buildings or properties and will focus efforts to attract high-tech businesses that are job producers. The redevelopment idea stretches beyond the business community, as the county expands on efforts to revitalize residential communities through its problem properties task force and rental housing code enforcement.
Preserving the dream of home ownership:
In recent years, housing prices increased by close to 50 percent while wages rose by about 5 percent, making it harder for young families and singles to find affordable home-ownership opportunities. The housing crunch also impacts older residents as they look to move into smaller, one-story or age-restricted housing. Through a housing incentive program and first-time homebuyer programs, New Castle County is working to keep the American dream of home ownership alive and available to working families.
Building connected communities:
County leaders want the next few years to bring about well-rounded communities – or, as County Executive Coons puts it, “Not subdivisions, but neighborhoods.” Connected communities offer options that work across the phases of life and provide places where residents can live, work, shop and play in the same area.
“The new plan is really an effort to encourage responsible development for the future and provide options for well-planned residential, commercial and mixed-use communities,” says County Councilman David Tackett, co-chair of the Council’s Land Use Committee. “In this plan, we see a future that offers citizens and businesses a great quality of life in a nice place to live and work.”
Studies show that more growth is already coming, county officials recognize. With the new comprehensive plan, they have charted a course. The hard work of turning the updated plan into an updated development code will take place in the months to come.
Photo by Stephen Cherry
